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This Actress Left Films To Become An IAS Officer; Gets AIR 167 In 6th Attempt

Imagine an actress having the passion to serve the nation by taking up an administrative role - a role totally different from her acting domain. Here we present to you the story of an actress who left her career in the entertainment industry and decided to take up an administrative role.

The Union Public Service Commission, Civil Services Examination (UPSC CSE) is India's premier central recruitment agency for the recruitment of all Group 'A' officers under the Government of India. It conducts CSE to recruit suitable candidates for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS).

IAS HS Keerthana: Her Background As An Actress

HS Keerthana was a popular child artist who was featured in many movies and on TV. She was a part of popular daily soaps the likes of Karpoorada Gombe, Ganga-Yamuna, Muddina Aliya, Circle Inspector, O Mallige, Lady Commissioner, Habba, Dore, Simhadri and TV serials like Janani, Chiguru, and Putani Agent. She did so well as an actress, but her life was off. To this very day, people appreciate and admire her acting skills.

However, deep within her, a constant whisper nudged her to become an officer in the civil administration. She took this whisper as a noble call that multiple failures did not for once deter her in any way till she became an IAS officer in UPSC CSE 2020, securing the AIR 167.

Undeterred UPSC CSE Journey

Prior to starting her UPSC CSE preparations, IAS Keerthana sat for the Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) examination in 2011. She cleared the examination with flying colours. While rendering her service as a KAS officer, she developed a passion for UPSC CSE with the sole aim of contributing more to the cause of the nation as an IAS officer. With this in mind, she seriously started her preparation for the examination.

Her first attempt at UPSC CSE was in 2013 followed by multiple attempts in the year that followed. She attempted a total of five preliminary attempts, which were not successful. In 2020, she sat for the sixth attempt at UPSC CSE. This was indeed her best attempt, and she eventually made it to the final recommended list as an IAS officer with an AIR 167. In her first posting as an IAS officer, she took up the administrative role of Assistant Commissioner of Mandya District, Karnataka.

Image credit: Online source

Strategies That Helped Her Become An IAS

HS Keerthana incorporated into her UPSC CSE preparation strategy some golden rules that every aspirant needs to ponder over and follow suit:

Did her NCERTS but selected topics.
Took All India Level tests series by coaching institutes. It helped her gain confidence.
Narrowed down her sources and had better clarity over what to avoid.
Stayed away from social media, friends, and functions.
Kept very few people around who could just bring positivity to her with a study circle of 3-4 aspirants.

From IAS HS Keerthana To Every Aspirant

IAS HS Keerthana`s story of not giving up even after multiple failures is a lesson for every aspirant to emulate. As an aspirant now or an officer later, failures must be your stepping stones to greater heights. Hard work with smart strategies improving upon every failure will eventually lead you to success. This former child actress cracked the comprehensive and competitive UPSC CSE examination which initially was not her domain.

This goes on to say that anyone will, with the right intent, succeed at anything worthwhile, even if it's outside of one`s domain in due time.

IAS Keerthana's five failed prelim attempts at UPSC CSE were enough to discourage her once and for all. But she was not the type of aspirant who gave up on a dream so easily. She knew that quitting was not the answer to failure, rather learning from it and improving upon it was the best answer to failure! She did exactly that. Each failed attempt helped her improve her strategies and maintain her momentum.

Had she quit in disappointment and frustration, she would be today a failure on multiple fronts- a failure as a once-established actress and a failure as an aspirant of UPSC CSE! It is true without a doubt that today, she is enjoying the fruit of her hard work and her spirit of endurance after all those years of struggle.

What a sweet story to recount—five failed attempts propelled HS Keerthana to become an IAS officer on the sixth attempt! Therefore, to all aspirants out there, what a powerful story to relate to if you are feeling led down by multiple failures. Be brave and go on, for you are another IAS HS Keerthana in the making!

Best of Luck aspirants!

Kaihrii Thomas

Associate Content Writer

Instinctively, I fall for nature, music, humour, reading, writing, listening, travelling, observing, learning, unlearning, friendship, exercise, etc., all these from the cradle to the grave- that's ME! It's my irrefutable belief in the uniqueness of all. I'll vehemently defend your right to be your best while I expect the same from you!